Saturday, July 31, 2010

*Edited 1/5/13* Hello everyone! First of all, I am glad so many people have enjoyed this project. When I did it and wrote the tutorial over 2 years ago, I never thought it would be my number 1 hit project to date. A lot of you have asked questions here in the comments and emailed me with particular unforeseen problems and I have tried my best to come up with solutions and ideas to remedy these problems. And a lot of you have had success, even using other things than bottlecaps, which is great! If you plan to do this project, be aware that it is not a thrifty project...however it can be....bottle caps are are recycled, trays can be found on sale....but the acrylic water, while not super expensive, is not exactly cheap. I have explained the process in the manner that I did it back then and I still use the tray to this day for exactly what I made it for. I have spilled coffee on it, sugar, made a mess on the tray and wiped it clean with a wet towel. What seems to be the biggest issues are that the acrylic is not hardening like mine did. I can not explain the reason behind it, other than the companies have changed their formula??? I do not know...my remedy for that is to spray a couple of layers of polyurethane sealer on it, that should get rid of the tackiness. So don't give up, don't throw in the towel, there is a solution for every problem...even in this craft project. Read through the comments, email me, I will help you as much as I can.

I like using trays for various tasks around the house and was on the look out for one to keep my coffee station area nice and tidy. Enter Hobby Lobby. HL is known for it's deep discounts and that is where I found the most hideous pink glittered tray I have ever seen. (Vase is from Goodwill, it got painted too....) It was under three dollars and I could only hope that primer would cover up that glitter-gone-wrong!
Thankfully it did! I primed and painted it glossy white Don't ask me how I thought of using bottlecaps in the bottom of it...I really don't know, I just wanted something fun and funky. I spray painted a whole bunch of them in my three favorite summertime colors, Blue Ocean Breeze, Ivy Leaf and Pumpkin Orange, and some white, all from Krylon. It actually took some time to collect this many caps, I wanted to do this earlier in the summer, it just took a while!Just a word of caution if decide to try this project, make sure the handles are high enough, giving you plenty of room to contain the fluid and whatever you are submerging. At least half inch clearance.
I started laying the caps in and played around with the pattern until I was happy. The staggered pattern really worked with not too much wasted space (it wasn't a perfect fit).

Next, I used what is called acrylic water to pour over the caps. Now this 2 part epoxy is sold at HL and Michael's, but I found it the cheapest at Walmart, in their Floral Dept. I followed the directions, mixing the compounds and poured it on. It's self-leveling, which is great! The tough part was waiting the 48 hours, because it cannot be disturbed at all, and my house is full of disturbances!!! :) Luckily, the acrylic hardened without any incidents, and was ready for use!

It turned out really cute and retro funky, just what I wanted!! It will keep my coffee messes contained!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're inspired! I bet a lot of different things could be "captured" under the acrylic! Pictures or buttons, anything!
*Edited*

I've had some questions about some of the caps floating up a little after the acrylic was poured. A few tricks I can suggest: pour very slowly and watch for floaters. Use something like a skewer or toothpick to push the cap down (not your fingers). Also, "tap" the tray a few times too on the counter to release any air bubbles. Finally, if the floater just won't settle, lift it out, let the acrylic settle into the space and then put the cap back down in the liquid. Any of these methods should work. If you should have any more questions don't hesitate to email me.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

It's no secret I love to design on the thrifty side, so when my MIL decided to give this settee away, I snatched it right up! I knew she could become something beautiful! I mean one more seat in the house can't hurt right? Right.

The unique shape of the seat, beautiful! I've never really seen anything quite like it before! The "furniture tag" underneath dates it back to 1929.

Before:

Seat cushion Before:

After:

Seat cushion After:

The zebra upholstery fabric was in the remnant bin at Hobby Lobby, I paid under three dollars for it and still have some for another project. I've been wanting to inject a teeny tiny shot of zebra in the living room for some time now, and this was the perfect amount! The cushion came off pretty easy...I ripped off the fringe and stapled on the new fabric right over the old, it was very easy.

I primed the frame with metal primer then sprayedtwo coats of Almond from Krylon.I'm still contemplating some fringe, like she originally had, but I'm not really a fringe kinda girl, but we'll see. It looks nice without it too.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

What do you do with a beat up freebie desk? Well, several things, but lets focus on what I did to a beat up freebie desk. :) From it's original make-over a few years ago, from wood to painted black...I decided to lighten up a bit and give this ole desk another face lift.Sorry, no good "before" shots, and even these, I had already sanded...Deciding on a color wasn't too hard, I've been on a grey kick for a while, a lot less harsh than black, but it was still a little too plain....I decided to paint the top of the desk with chalk board paint, how fun would that be!!

I let the paint dry and I really liked how it was looking, but I still wasn't satisfied, shocker, I know... so I decided to add a little detail with paint. I was a little nervous, but if I messed up I could always go back over it with more chalk board paint. I decided to personalize it with a monogram, E for Edwards, and continued with a little bubble detail. It was easy, after the E dried I centered a clear glass plate over it and used the eraser of a new pencil to create the circle and I just kept dabbing all the way around the edge of the plate. I created a border too with the same technique, dabbing the eraser in paint, all the way around...

I seasoned the whole top and I was done!

I added some new hardware, hung a cute little thrifted basket that I spray painted orange, with one of my little flowers I've been making, and Logan likes to put his action figures in there too...

Saturday, July 24, 2010

After making my canvas placemats, I had a small amount of canvas left and decided to create a floorcloth. I have always wanted to try one, so I went for it. Being enamored with the Chevron pattern right now, I thought I would use it and seemed simple enough to create. First I primed and painted the piece of canvas, I did this on a scrap board so no one would walk on it while it was wet

Next, using 2 inch painter's tape, I created the Chevron pattern. I just eyeballed it, I was not going for perfection.

Using some black enamel paint left over from another project, I painted away!

After it dried, I took off the tape, and blurred the painted edges so it wouldn't look so "tapey" and laid it in the foyer.I love how it looks and it added a great graphic pop!It doesn't move around as much as I thought it would, and it's wearing pretty good.This is a fun project, and didn't take very long at all!Hope you give it a try!